The drought in America’s breadbasket is intensifying at an unprecedented rate, experts warned, driving concern food prices could soar if crops in the world’s key producer are decimated.

The US Drought Monitor reported a nearly threefold increase in areas of extreme drought over the past week in the nine Midwestern states where three quarters of the country’s corn and soybean crops are produced.

“That expansion of D3 or extreme conditions intensified quite rapidly and we went from 11.9 percent to 28.9 percent in just one week,” Brian Fuchs, a climatologist and Drought Monitor author, told AFP.

Almost two thirds of the continental United States are now suffering drought conditions,...78 percent of US corn and 11 percent of soybean crops have been hit...

Visible dry soil is only part of what's happening to the water table during drought. Since increasing drought is a long term Climate Change driven process, groundwater must be considered as well. This video shows the groundwater changing from 2002 to 2012. Red is less water, blue is more water.

The study forecasts that during the second half of this century, about 80 percent of years will exceed megadrought levels.

Combine the tree-ring growth record with historical information, climate records, and computer-model projections of future climate trends, and you get a grim picture for the future of trees in the southwestern United States.

We have to resist all attempts to privatize water, even as we may have to ration it in some way. Getting rid of lawns is one BIG way to save water. Make berms and catch basins; Use soaker hoses for borders and food gardens; put in xeriscaping and xerogardening; there are other options to use as well.